Running
by mrstveit17
Summary: Darkward. Edward takes an interest in Bella, and he isn't satisfied unless he's the only part of her life. Eventual kidnapping / darkward. Slightly olderward. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Preface

You have to understand, I thought it was love.

I confused his soft touches with soft intentions, and I mistook the beauty of the sights with the beauty of his soul. When his words began to spread fear in my head, it was already too late. I started seeing the signs long after their helpfulness had ebbed away.

In the beginning we were partners, my mind ignoring the grey areas and focusing instead on the vibrancy of the rest. He treated me as royalty, watching my actions and movements as though he was afraid I would disappear. Which I guess in the end was true.

He twisted his intents into a façade of safety and escape, whilst preparing to extract force whenever necessary. I was put on a pedestal with expectations higher than were possible to live up to.

With calculated moves and careful words he isolated me from my family. He constructed a gap between my friends and I, and he filled it with his encompassing presence. When that too was not enough, he took me away. He adored me, he cherished me, he trapped me.

You have to understand, I thought this was love.


	2. Chapter 1

Here's the first chapter of my new story! Let me know how you like it. Hopefully the next chapter will be up within the next week!

My stomach lurched while I looked around the ten by ten box that was my new home. My mother and sister were long gone, and I was alone in my first adult apartment. Well, let me clarify. I was sharing it with three other girls (one of whom I had never met), and it was less than a quarter of a mile away from my dorm from just three months prior. But still, in my head, it felt overwhelmingly grown up. I was going to have to pay rent every month, and there were separate bills for power, water, and cable.

I was two months shy of 20, but this apartment aged me in my mind. My first year of college had flown by. It was a blur of free t-shirts, lecture halls, and clinging to people and calling it friendship. I had a few friends that had made it past the initial stage in which you were called everyone whose face you knew a buddy. But as I perched on the edge of my second year at the University of Georgia, I felt despair.

My parents had talked about grad school, internships, and careers for the entirety of summer. I needed to keep my grades up, build my resume, and network with professionals to distinguish myself after graduation. It had my head spinning until I realized I didn't want any of that.

I wanted to see the world. I wanted to stay in shifty hostels and flirt with locals and help people make this world better. I wanted to live a global life with a mess of characters and a string of heart-stopping views. My parents wanted me to have a 401(k). I knew I couldn't get a 9-5 job in the outskirts of Atlanta and be happy for the rest of my life. I needed adventure. So, the Friday before classes were to begin, I convinced my two best friends that we needed to go out.

Alice and Rose seemed to understand my wanderlust. We had talked of dream trips after graduation, and oftentimes joked that we would sell all of our stuff and leave Athens in the dust. But, like myself, they knew that wasn't plausible. You couldn't up and move to Croatia with $200 in your pocket and expect to survive. You needed plans, arrangements, and money.

But as much as they understood the impossibility of running away, they also understood that we needed a scaled down escape in town.

We had done our share of illicit activities during our freshman year. Frat parties, dorm hangouts, college bars that didn't ID. We had crossed them all off of our college to-do list. But that night, we ventured into the part of Athens dubbed "Normaltown" by the students of long ago. Normaltown was for those who lived in Athens because of its culture. Local businesses thrived, bands got their start, and the population's median age wasn't 20. We used our fake IDs to get into a real bar, and sat down with cocktails in a dark booth.

The bar was strange to my eyes. Unlike any others I had ever been to, no one was grinding to overly loud music. It was dark and relatively quiet. People were mostly keeping to themselves aside from a few singles flirting at the bar. Music played in the background, but did not overpower the environment. It was the perfect atmosphere to get away from the hypersexual college students just down the road.

We laughed over our drinks as we caught up after a summer apart. Alice had visited her brother in Ohio, and Rose had watched her little sister's eighth grade graduation. As we talked, I felt at home with them, and I like to think they felt the same. Our table was marked with water rings and messages written over the years telling us that Mandy and Rob were "4ever" and that Emily had been here, but we were too immersed in the present to contemplate the history of this booth.

I was starting to feel better about the upcoming year. I had two good friends, and a lifetime to figure out the rest. Our apartment was nice enough, my classes were going to be interesting, and we had hardly any responsibilities to weigh us down. I felt great that in just a few short hours my friends had lifted my spirits more than three months of being at home could.

Alice and Rose understood my need to live 5,000 times over. We all wanted to search the world for experiences you could not find in the suburbs. One life wasn't enough to do all we wanted to do, so we sure as hell couldn't waste any of it settling down in a cubicle for 25 years.

I offered to go get us another round. I was feeling generous, as we had already consumed three drinks. I stood from the booth, the alcohol rushing to my head in a much more noticeable way, and walked towards the bartender to put in our order. And that is where I met Edward.

I didn't notice him at first, his quiet presence hidden by the shadows of the bar, but he noticed me. My order had no sooner left my lips than I felt him step up behind me.

Not in the mood to talk to anyone other than my friends, I did not turn around. This did not please him, and a hand on my shoulder followed an expectantly cleared throat.

Shrugging his hand off of my body, and turned and glared at the unfamiliar face. He was taller than me, a feat as I stood at 5'10. He must have been 6'1 or 6'2 with a mess of brown hair covering his forehead. He was dressed in dark jeans and a black t-shirt. No logos. His eyes were dark, and a lazy smile shaped his face, but I didn't care for it.

"Can I help you," I said, irritation clear in my voice, "or did you intrude my space accidentally?"

This courage was new to me, as I usually shied away from confrontation at great lengths. The alcohol had made me brave, however, and I stood my ground. His eyes flashed with undetectable emotion, though they seemed to scream a mix of amusement and anger.

"What's your name?" He asked, ignoring my obvious disdain.

"Look, it's girls' night out and I just want to hang out with my friends. Sorry," The finality of my statement was evident, but he did not back down.

"I'm Edward," He told me, not at all discouraged by my dismissal.

"Nice to meet you Edward. This is Bella," A giggling voice answered from behind me. I turned to scold Alice for her betrayal, but before I could, Edward was speaking again.

"Bella is a lovely name. Can I buy Bella a drink?" He asked Alice, mischief dancing in his eyes.

"She doesn't speak for me, thank you," I said angrily, "And we're going back to our booth now."

I grabbed Alice's hand and pulled her back to Rose after getting our drinks off the counter and handing $10 to the bartender.

"What is wrong with you? He was hot!" Alice laughed when we sat down.

"I'm here to hang out with you guys, not to get involved with someone who probably wants to live in Athens for the rest of his life. Plus, he was like 25. Way too old for us, seeing how we're not even 20 yet."

My speech did little to wipe the smirks off of my friends' faces, but they let it go and we continued our night.

By the time we decided to call a taxi, it was well after midnight, and we were six drinks in. I was feeling affectionate, and had told Alice and Rose how much I loved them approximately 200 times. We went outside the bar to wait on our cab, and I told the girls that I would be right back. I reentered the bar to go to the bathroom, and started making my way back to my friends.

Walking out of the restrooms, however, an arm shot out in front of, halting me in my tracks.

"I wanted to apologize for my rude behavior from earlier," I looked up to see Edward again. This time, however, his presence didn't bother me. I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

"I was so mean to you before! I'm Bella by the way. Sorry for being a bitch earlier, I just wanted to hang with Alice and Rose," My words slurred together, but Edward understood me just fine.

"Are you going home?" He asked, and I decided to play with his head. The alcohol made me slightly less eloquent than I planned, however, and it came out as nonsense.

"Nope! We're going to a strip club and then a casino and then Albania."

"Do you want me to drive you?" He said, laughing at my assertion.

"Thanks Edward! But we called a taxi, so we're all good." I ducked under his arm, but his voice stopped me.

"Nonsense! I can take you, and I don't even charge a fare." He didn't wait for my response, but rather walked outside to inform the other two of our new plan.

We rationalized taking a ride from a stranger in our drunken minds, and climbed into his black four-door.

I vaguely remember telling him where we lived, and after a short car ride filled with drunken laughter and pointless conversation, we arrived.

"Thanks a ton, Edward!" I told him, opening my door.

"Do I get the honor of your phone number at least?" His words stopped me in my tracks. I didn't know this guy, but he hadn't tried to crazy murder my friends and I, so that was enough in my state.

I put his number in my phone and ran off before I could do something to embarrass myself. After making sure everyone had drank a ton of water and tucking the other two in, I changed into my pajamas and lay down.

I vaguely heard a ping, but it took me a minute to figure out where it was coming from. I finally realized it was my phone, and I ran and fished it out of my discarded jeans on the floor.

It was from an unknown number, but I knew it was Edward. "_It was great meeting you tonight. Did you fall asleep already?_"

I thought about ignoring him, as I was slightly more sober now, but I figured that would be rude after he gave us a ride home.

So I replied, "_Just tucked the others in. Thank you for the ride again!"_

No response came for several minutes, so I put my phone on the charger and got into bed. As I was starting to fall under, I heard my phone go off. Groaning, I looked to see what it was.

"_Can I see you again?" _Edward wasn't one for dancing around a question. He seemed nice and attentive, so I replied with an affirmative.

"_Come outside."_

I read the message several times over to make sure I understood him.

"_Right now?" _I asked, sure that I was missing something. But he replied quickly, indicating that I had understood him perfectly.

Hesitantly, I got dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and went to the front door. Opening it slowly, I saw Edward leaning against the porch with a cigarette in his mouth. He smiled when he saw me and threw his smoke on the ground.

"Hello beautiful," he said, staying where he was.

"What are you still doing here?" I asked, but I couldn't help the smile that came to my face.

"I wanted to see you again," he replied easily and without shame.

"And that couldn't wait until tomorrow morning?" I asked him jokingly, but when he replied there was no laughter in his voice.

"It couldn't wait another second."


End file.
